Keys and Kisses: Untouchable Book Three

by Long, Heather

When I deleted it a third time, Archie had forwarded it to himself and then said, “Now delete it. I have a copy for the attorney, and you don’t need to stare at it.”

  His mom was back in town, too.

  Fun. I would just avoid his place for a while, and he was spending a lot of time at mine. The guys had actually asked me if I wanted them to empty out the furniture in Mom’s room.

  It had only been a week.

  There was still a chance she would come back. Were she and Archie’s dad really gonna keep this going?

  One of our tests was in lit and it was another essay, so I dragged my mind to the present and focused on it. By the time our hour was up, my brain was mush.

  “Food,” Coop said. “Caffeine. Maybe a sledgehammer to hit myself with.”

  Chuckling, I slid my backpack on. “It might feel good after that.”

  “Agreed.”

  “You two are hilarious,” Ms. Fajardo called, and we both grinned at her. “But may I borrow you for a minute, Frankie?”

  Coop followed me up there as the room emptied of kids heading to lunch.

  “Frankie, Coop,” Ms. Fajardo told him lightly. “You can wait for her in the hall.”

  “It’s okay,” I told him and her for that matter. “I don’t mind if he hears.”

  “Well, then you can tell him after. Off with you, Mister.”

  With a roll of his eyes, Coop rubbed my arm. “I’ll be outside the door, and I’ll text the guys. Pizza for lunch?”

  “Works for me.” At the moment, I’d eat just about anything. Hamburgers included. I was starving. I’d worked late last night ‘cause of a rush and the fact that I had Saturday off. I needed to figure out a way to work in more hours.

  As soon as the door closed, Ms. Fajardo beckoned me over to her desk. “All right, I’ll make this quick, but…I have an opportunity I think you would be perfect for…”

  “Me?”

  “Yes,” she said, and then turned her monitor so I could read the screen. The website for Compass Reach was on the screen. “Do you know about this program?”

  “Never heard of it.”

  “For the last twenty-five years, they’ve been providing first generation, college-bound high school students with an intensive experience that focuses on skill development and personal growth with the goal of preparing them for college, career and civic life. Students don’t apply, they’re nominated. I spoke to Madame and to Ms. Costgrove…”

  “Ms. Costgrove?” She’d been my humanities teacher for two years.

  “Yes, we all agreed you were the best candidate and the one most likely to benefit, so we all nominated you and Mr. Fulton, the assistant principal sponsored the nomination.”

  “Wow…thank you.” I wasn’t quite sure what to do with this. “When do we find out?”

  “Well, they’ll notify us of the exact grant right before winter break, but you’re a finalist, so you’re in.”

  Wait. What?

  “If you accept, you’re increasing your workload. You’ll have interactive seminars all through the spring, one day a week. We’ll work it out so you will be technically studying off-campus on those days. Once the spring is over, you’ll qualify for one of their paid summer internships at a law firm or a non-profit or even a government agency.”

  Dazed, I stared at her. “But I’m not studying law. Or…government.” Well I was, but only the requirement.

  “No, but you’re a gifted linguist and translators are always in demand. You’re very savvy and you’re a skilled writer. You can learn the other stuff, but this type of internship is also going to reflect well on your college applications, and I got the notice of your apps going in and I’m writing my recommendations this weekend.”

  My stomach bottomed out as my heart slammed against my ribs. This was a lot.

  “I plan on mentioning you’re a finalist in this.”

  “Wow… I still don’t know what to say.”

  “You don’t have say anything, I’m thrilled for you. The only thing you’re going to need is to get your mother to sign permission for you to attend the seminars so we can adjust your schedule and everything else is covered. There’s no expense.”

  She was so utterly thrilled for me, I couldn’t wreck it, even as she put a nail in the coffin of the plan. Mr. Wittaker said it could take months to sort out the emancipation. If I wanted to do this, I’d have to ask Mom or give it up.

  “Tell you what, I know this is a crazy weekend. So you think about it, I’ll send copies of this over to your school email. Read up and then talk to me next week with your questions, okay?”

  “Sure… Thank you, Ms. Farjardo.”

  Her smile grew. “You’re very welcome, Frankie. You’re a talented student and I can’t wait to see what you do.”

  It was an amazing opportunity. But at least one day a week? I’d be doubling up my workload, and I’d have to compensate with my hours at Mason’s, not to mention the guys. Coop was waiting for me when I came out, and he studied me.

  “Good news? Bad news?”

  “I don’t know what to do with it news,” I admitted. On one level, it was awesome, and on another, it was gut wrenching. Without Mom’s approval, I’d have to turn it down, disappointing my teachers who’d done this for me.

  “Tell me?” Coop invited as we headed down to the doors for the parking lot.

  I did, even if I had to repeat it when we got to the car.

  The stunned look he wore matched how I felt. “That’s really awesome, but your mom has to sign off on it?”

  “Yeah,” I admitted. I could ask her. What was the worst thing she’d say? No? “But I don’t want to ask her.”

  “We’ll figure something out,” Coop said with such firm and steady faith, I almost believed him.

  “Or maybe we won’t.”

  “Nope,” he said. “We will. You watch.”

  I laughed. He grinned.

  “Much better,” he said. “Chin up, keep smiling. We’ve got this.”

  No, we didn’t. But I had him, and the others were already in Jake’s SUV waiting, even if Archie was hanging out of the back passenger side window like a corpse.

  “He died of hunger,” Ian explained in a dry tone as we got close, and I chuckled again.

  I had all of them.

  Well…most anyway.

  Chapter Nineteen

  The Heart Brings You Back

  Awareness drifted in as warmth settled in behind me and wrapped an arm around my middle. The light press of a kiss below my ear made me smile.

  “Morning,” I mumbled, and Coop chuckled.

  “Morning, go back to sleep.” He dragged the covers up, and I yawned. Even tucked securely against him, I tried to rouse. “I fed the cats, they’re happy.”

  Oh, then I didn’t have to.

  “Shut up,” Jake mumbled, and reached past me to thump Coop. “She was asleep.”

  “Jerk,” Coop mumbled, and I opened my eyes in time to see Jake smirking.

  “You’re only saying that because you’re hiding behind her.” Then his gaze dipped to mine, and he brushed my cheek with a finger. “Shh, he’s right—go back to sleep. We don’t have to be anywhere for hours.”

  There was homework. Chores. Work…

  Oh, wait, I didn’t have work today. I burrowed again and pressed a hand against Jake’s chest. Somehow, we’d all piled onto the bed and slept after watching the worst movie I’d ever seen.

  “I’m glad you won your game,” I mumbled. “That was a very good catch thingy before you slid home.”

  Coop pressed his face against my hair, as if that would muffle his laughter.

  “Thanks, baby girl. Thanks for being a cheerleader.”

  I snorted. Though, I had worn one of Jake’s old football jerseys and painted school colors on my cheeks. Archie and Coop had found it hilarious. Then they fed me plenty of hot dogs and nachos while they made up stories about alien invaders and the resistance to fill in my knowledge gaps about the game.

 
; “You’re not going back to sleep, are you?”

  When I cracked my eyes open, Jake had rolled onto his side and studied me. Between the stubble, the disheveled hair, bruises, and pillow wrinkles on his cheek, he seemed the perfectly rumpled rogue. I liked it—well, everything except the bruises. With care, I traced my fingers against the green discoloration still marring his cheek.

  “Stop worrying about it,” he murmured. “It’s fine.”

  “I just hate the idea that you and Ian were fighting.” I didn’t like it when Jake was in any fight.

  “Well, not a fan, but if he’s gonna be a dumbass then he gets what gets.” Dragging his thumb across my lower lip, he said, “Don’t worry about it, baby girl. Today is all about the dance.”

  I snorted and shifted, but Coop tightened his arm around my middle. “What happened to going back to sleep?” Despite the hint of grumpiness in his words, no trace of it echoed in his voice.

  “Well,” I offered. “I’m not getting up.”

  “Good.” The word echoed from both of them, and I laughed. It was barely light outside. We had time.

  “I don’t have to be at the nail place until ten, I think, or ten-thirty.” It was on my phone. Rachel had made the reservations and sent me the address. Her running interference for me with Cheryl helped. “What are you guys going to do today?”

  “Shower,” Jake said.

  “Shave,” Coop tacked on.

  “Probably get something to eat,” Jake continued.

  “Then you know, maybe watch a game before we have to go put on the suits.”

  “Guy spa day.” The smirk on Jake’s face grew. “Gotta get all pretty for our girl.”

  A snicker escaped. “Are you guys going to braid each other’s hair and do your nails?”

  “Fuck no,” Jake said with a snort. “Probably tell dirty jokes and then compete to see who gets to ask you for the first dance.”

  “Oh, damn,” Coop said, thrusting out his fist. “Rock-Paper-Scissors? We decide now, we have the fifty-fifty on that, and Archie and Bubba have to wait.”

  Amusement filled Jake’s eyes as he lifted his fist. “I like this plan.”

  “It is kind of cheating,” I pointed out, and received a matching pair of “So?” for my trouble.

  Wiggling a little, I rolled onto my back and then watched as they rocked their fists three times, and Coop did rock but Jake did scissors.

  “Dammit,” Jake said with a scowl. “You always do paper.”

  “I know,” Coop said smugly. “That’s why I did rock. I get the first dance.”

  Laughter swelled up in me. “It’s fine, Jake gets the second.”

  “Then Archie and Bubba can fight it out for third,” Coop suggested before settling his hand on my stomach.

  “Nope,” Jake said. “Archie gets the third dance, and if Bubba wants one, he can ask.”

  Coop sighed, but another one of those wordless conversations seemed to pass through them.

  “Guys?” At my question, they both focused on me. “What’s going on?”

  “With what?” The too innocent look didn’t fool me.

  “Coop.”

  He sighed, then flicked a look at Jake. “You told Bubba you didn’t mind if he rode with us tonight.”

  “I did…is that a problem?” They had left it to me, right?

  “No,” Jake said softly. “It’s not a problem. But neither of us want you to feel like you have to do something. The thing with Bubba is…”

  “Messy,” Coop supplied. “You haven’t really talked about it.”

  I shrugged. “What is there to talk about?” If we were going to talk about this, I needed to get up. Before I could do more than shift, Jake pressed a hand to my shoulder.

  “Hey, it’s us. We get it. Bubba was an idiot. Then you broke up with him.”

  “I know,” I said, trying not to snap. “I was there.” Then my mother moved out. I’d had a great week. Just when I thought it was as bad as it was going to get, something else happened. I didn’t want to even look forward to Homecoming, despite the guys’ attempts to make it awesome. They were doing everything right, but my luck seemed to wax and wane between wow, they all like me and it feels good to be with them, to wow, my mom and everyone else hates me and my life was imploding around me.

  Not really a win-win.

  “Frankie,” Coop said, rising on his elbow so he could meet my gaze. “Whether you want to talk about it or not—and yes, I’d prefer you not sit on the things hurting you anymore.” The knowing look in his eyes was hard to avoid. “You also have a lot of crap you’ve been dealing with. Our job is to make it easier, period.”

  “That means,” Jake said, picking up the thread. “We aren’t letting anyone do anything you don’t want to do. Bubba’s my friend—our friend—no lie. He can be your friend and you can be his, whatever you want. But you don’t have to do a damn thing you don’t want to do.”

  “So, if you’re uncomfortable,” Coop tacked on. “Then you tell him no, and we’re one hundred percent on your side.”

  It was terrifically sweet, and my eyes burned a little. “He’s your friend, too.”

  “He is,” Jake said with a nod. “You’re more.”

  A shiver worked its way along my spine.

  “Dance with him. Don’t dance with him. Take a picture. Talk to him. Whatever you want, but if you don’t, then no one is making you.” For a minute, he lifted his gaze from me to focus on Coop. “No one.”

  “Agreed,” Coop said after a few seconds. That came out a little more reluctant than his earlier statement.

  “But you don’t agree,” I called him on it, and Coop caught my hand and pulled it up to kiss.

  “Yes, I do. I just…I feel for Bubba. Doesn’t mean I don’t think he was an idiot. ‘Cause trust me, I told him he needed to get his head out of his ass. At the same time, he’s human. He screwed up. At the heart of it, I know it’s because he cares about you.”

  “He just has a really shitty way of showing it,” Jake argued. “And we’re done with that pressuring.”

  “He’s not pressuring me,” I scolded Jake. This time when I tried to sit up, neither of them stopped me. Leaning back against the headboard, I stared at my room. “I don’t know what I feel about Ian. It’s…a lot harder to just be his friend than I thought it would be.”

  “Give yourself time,” Jake suggested.

  “Rachel said the same thing.”

  “Woah,” Coop twisted as he sat up. “You talked to Rachel about this?”

  “Yeah…some of it, anyway. Last week, after I broke up with him and then on Sunday when she and I went to get coffee after work.” I’d been a little late getting home.

  “How much did you tell her?” Worry filled Jake’s eyes.

  “A lot, but I trust her,” I told them both. “She’s not going to throw it out like gossip for consumption. She’s been—pretty awesome, actually.” From Mr. Thorns, my mysterious admirer, to Rachel, my friend. It had been an interesting transformation considering our previous love/hate relationship.

  Coop and Jake looked at each other again.

  “Stop it.” It was kind of funny, but I really was beginning to recognize the look for ‘protect Frankie’ they shared periodically. While it used to be annoying, it was becoming kind of endearing, if a little frustrating. “Rachel figured it out before I did that you guys all liked me. She also figured out that I was having trouble with it.”

  “In all fairness, baby girl, everyone knew before you did.” Jake spread his hands like what was he going to do.

  I settled for flipping him off, and he grinned. “My point,” I continued, “is she’s my friend, someone I can talk to, and it helps.”

  “You can talk to us, you know,” Coop reminded me. A note of reproach crept into his tone, and hurt flashed in his eyes.

  “Of course I can,” I told him. “Don’t be a dork.”

  He straightened.

  “Seriously, I know I can talk to you guys. But the thi
ng is...it’s hard to talk to you about each other.” I chewed at my lower lip. “It was different before. If Archie said something stupid, or Coop was driving me nuts with his mothering…”

  He opened his mouth to protest but shut up as Jake shook his head once.

  “Or even if I wanted to smack you for being so possessive and acting like a jerk to anyone who wanted to talk to me when you were there.” The last bit I directed at Jake. Who for his part, just shrugged. “It was different when we were just friends.”

  “We’re still friends,” Coop said.

  “But we’re also more,” Jake conceded. “You need a friend.”

  Coop groaned. “That friend has to be Rachel?”

  “Well, at the moment, yes. One, because I like Rachel. She’s sharp, acerbic, insightful—and she doesn’t judge me.” Right now, that was really important. “She’s been on my side when the other crap happened. She did the whole flowers thing because she wanted me to have something to smile about.” I’d really enjoyed the roses.

  “The flowers you wanted to be from us,” Jake grunted.

  “Yes. Two, Rachel’s on my side, at least where the other girls are concerned.” She’d clapped back at Patty, snarked at Sharon, and pretty much given hell to anyone looking at me sideways. “Three, she was there for me at the party after everything went sideways.”

  Coop sighed, but he didn’t argue the point.

  “Four, she has a thing for you,” Jake pointed out.

  “Yes and no,” I corrected. “She kind of hoped I’d be into girls, but even if I’m not, she still thought I could use a friend, and I think she needs one, too. Though, honestly she’s surrounded by other girls so maybe not. Maybe I’m just the lucky one. But there’s another big point in her favor.”

  “That is?” Coop asked, skeptical.

  “In no world has she had sex with any of you or been a part of your points game.”

  They both winced, then Jake sighed. “Fine, you win.”

  I laughed. “It’s not about winning or losing, I promise. I’m—coping with the whole points thing. But it’s kind of nice to know someone who hasn’t wanted to be right where I am now.”

  “I get that,” Coop said slowly. “Sorta. ‘Course, the fact she’s someone who wants to be where we are…kind of shoe on the other foot.”